Overview

With its ever-evolving communication technologies and 24/7 demand for information, the 21st century challenges congregations to make effective, strategic use of new—and old—communications technologies to build their community life and faith, and to invite others into that life.

About Susan Elliott

Freelance writer, editor, and designer Susan Elliott was Director of Communications at St. Columba's Church, a large Episcopal parish in northwest Washington, DC, for 21 years. Between 1986 and 2008, she saw the church through the advent of desktop and Internet publishing and developed a nationally known communications program. While Susan carried responsibility for communications, she credits St. Columba's rectors—and particularly William Tully—for recognizing the critical importance of communications and supporting its development. "Bill Tully was fond of saying that the church is in the publishing business," she says. "It's a great insight. I use it a lot."

Interview

CRG: What are the basic values that shape the way you approach communications at the individual church level?

Susan: I think the touchstone for all church communications is invitation and welcome. It's about inviting people to worship with you, to stick around to participate in the life of the congregation—and, just maybe, to be transformed. And everything is important: clear signage that helps a visitor around an unfamiliar building, a service bulletin that invites the person unfamiliar with worship to participate, a sermon that's accessible, a smile and a greeting from an usher.

What I see as other basic values have more do to with how you do the work, things like committing to excellence and respecting and valuing your fellow staff members and congregation. Committing to excellence is hard work, and you need to accept the fact that you'll never get it all right. But creating an integrated system for getting publicity out through your various communications vehicles, keeping information clear and reliable, and presenting it in consistent and attractive ways are steps in that direction.

As for working with people…well, you can't do this work by yourself. You need people feeding you information, sharing the needs and the joys of their ministries, and help, lots of it, from the people around you. Building relationships, encouraging and thanking contributors and volunteers, even forgiving the person who promises to help and fails to deliver, are important. We're a community built on the love of Christ, and we have to model that in our relationships.

CRG: How do you create an "integrated system" for communications?

Susan: You start with the main communications vehicles that most congregations have—weekly bulletin and announcements, newsletter and/or e-news, and website. Consider the particular purpose and audience each has and the way they are read. The announcements included with the weekly service bulletin are scanned quickly in the pew and, if you're lucky, brought home. The newsletter or e-news can be read whenever a person chooses—and if they're interesting, they're more likely to be "chosen." The website is available whenever a parishioner or a complete stranger (and that's important) wants to check on something or get information.

Being strategic means deciding what's important and timely—no small task—and making it available in each of those main venues, trimmed or expanded as meets the requirements of the vehicle. At St. Columba's we would publish a newsletter article well in advance of, say, the next session of Wednesdays at St. C's, our mid-week supper and education program. Once the newsletter was published, the course offerings, dates, and signup information were posted on the website.

Around two weeks before signup began, the Sunday wrapper (announcements piece) would begin to publicize classes and signup. A last resort (if people had been terminally distracted by Christmas, for example) was the rector's verbal announcement during the service. During or after the series, we might publish an article in the newsletter that touches on what people were learning or experiencing in one of the classes.

So those things work together, to help people leading busy, distracted lives learn about the events and programs in their churches. At its best, that kind of integration functions as an aspect of a church's hospitality, because it provides a variety of ways for folks to hear the basic invitation: Join us.

There are many other ways that churches communicate—brochures, letters, listservs, and meetings. They have strategic potential, too. But from a systems standpoint, it's a good idea to start with a focus on the larger, regular communication venues. Let them deliver your main messages in an ordered, timely fashion.

CRG: How do you enable and empower others to contribute to communications?

Susan: The people in our churches are a tremendous resource. It's important to get to know them and to encourage them to share their stories and their gifts. You probably have some real talent in your congregation and on your staff—people who get what communications is about, others who can write, good photographers, web-savvy souls, all kinds of gifts.

For four years at St. Columba's, I worked with Jay Sidebotham, a clergy associate who was a cartoonist. You can see his work in the "Slow down. Quiet. It's Advent" poster that he and I create each year for Morehouse and other pieces he does for Church Pension, Inc. I took his presence as a sign that God is very good, because even if I'd thought to pray for the one thing that would enliven my work, I never would have been clever enough to ask for a cartoonist with a style that brings intelligence, sweetness, and wit to church life.

At St. Columba's, I developed a small communications team with some parishioner volunteers and at times another staff member to help me with planning and writing. They did some proofing, too, and acted as extra eyes and ears around the parish. In addition, I worked with leaders of the various ministries and programs to develop articles that met their needs for promotion and reporting, and they sent in publicity for inclusion in that "strategic" triad of Sunday wrapper, newsletter, and website.

Young people were great contributors, too, providing brief newsletter pieces about their mission trips and other events. I may have carried the title Director of Communications at St. Columba's, but like everything in church life, it was a work of the people.

CRG: We live in the "information age" now—how has this ever-changing environment impacted communications in the church?

Susan: Things have changed a lot over the last twenty years. New technologies have opened up new opportunities for reaching people and things are constantly, rapidly evolving. We launched St. Columba's website in 1999, and now the church is ready for a new one. It's surprising it has lasted this long.

Creating a website is tricky and complicated. It means doing some research to find out what your people actually want online and what they will use. We know folks want information, all the time and in lots of different ways. But now it's possible to offer live-streaming of events and worship, podcasts of sermons and forums, online donations, pledge payments, and registration for classes and youth events. Creating and maintaining a site with that kind of functionality takes time and money, so you want to make sure that it's what people want.

While websites do a great deal, we found it helpful, at St. Columba's, to establish listservs to help our ministries in their work. Groups used them to discuss issues outside of meetings and to keep members informed of upcoming meetings and events. Just like websites, listserv technology is developing, providing things like calendaring and schedules. So the possibilities are expanding, and churches can take advantage of that.

A lot of churches are producing weekly e-news, a relatively new and effective way of staying in touch and keeping people informed. To do that well, you need to keep it simple, tightly focused, and well designed, as folks will be reading it as they zip through their e-mail.

To invite new people in, and to continue growing the church, we have to embrace every medium we can. Youth ministers and some congregational leaders are on MySpace and Facebook. Clergy are developing blogs. Churches are beginning to post brief videos on YouTube.

These are edgy places for the church to be, but isn't that just like Jesus, reaching beyond the comfort zone to carry his message of God's radical love to people easily overlooked or dismissed? These venues may not work for everyone, but you probably have some young people in your churches who can help you understand them and think about ways to use them effectively. That way, a generation that may not have heard much good news now knows it is welcome in your churches.

CRG: Is it time to retire the print newsletter?

Susan: The debate over print vs. online newsletters is perennial. When the network of professional communicators in the Episcopal Church that I belong to trots out that discussion, as it does pretty much annually, the conclusion is invariably "both-and." Print newsletters are a pleasure to read and serve the older members of congregations, the very folk who have built our churches.

And given that today's mail consists mostly of bills, catalogues, requests for contributions and credit card offers, the arrival of the church newsletter is like receiving an old fashioned letter—if any of us can remember what that's like. It's not a note of thanks or condolence, but a real letter, sharing news of people you know, thoughts about shared passions and interests, and plans for getting together.

Many churches are asking parishioners to choose whether to stay on the newsletter mailing list or go to an online delivery system, which meets the "both-and" criteria and reduces print production and mailing costs. One Episcopal communicator admitted that when her church made that offer, a large percentage of the congregation gave up the mailed, printed newsletter in favor of an online subscription. But over the next year, many households re-upped for the print version. So it's not yet time to do away with print newsletters, despite the attraction of reduced cost.

CRG: Last thoughts?

Susan: Whatever technology you are using, simple truth matters as you publish your church's good tidings. There are so many ways to talk about God, so many voices—just look at the Bible. All those voices tell about encounters with God. Each congregation is a people with a unique story. You need to speak in your own congregation's voice, to find words that are consistent with your church's story and style.

And don't be afraid to edit. That's part of developing credibility with your audience, of creating communications that feel familiar and reflect the intimacy and hospitality of a faith community. People have little time to read or listen, and we it owe to them to be clear, lively and compelling. We're telling their stories.

Resources

Click on "Communications" to visit the resource category devoted to this topic in the Congregational Resource Guide. Here you will find resources listed, along with descriptive annotations and links to resource providers.

In addition, consider these resources recommended by Susan Elliott:

Other Communicators

Diocesan communicators in my denomination (Episcopal Diocese of Washington) are skilled, wise, and glad to help congregations improve their communications. You probably know or have heard of people doing great work in your churches. Get in touch, share ideas, ask for advice. This work isn't easy, and we're all happy to help each other out.

Episcopal Communicators (www.episcopalcommunicators.org)

This national organization of people working in communications at all levels in the Episcopal Church offers an annual conference and maintains a listserv and website for its members. It offers continuing education and a pool of talent and expertise to tap into when you have questions.

There are other organizations for religious communicators as well, like the interfaith Religious Communicators Council (www.religioncommunicators.org).

Episcopal Cafe (www.episcopalcafe.com)

Developed by Jim Naughton, canon for communications and advancement in the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, the Episcopal Cafe is a great example of a blog with inspiring, lively writing and good design.

Video Postings by Matthew Moretz (www.fathermatthewpresents.com)

These video postings by Matthew Moretz, curate at Christ's Church in Rye, NY, created quite a stir and a real following. With a light touch and a sense of humor he brought some important teaching and an open door to those who might never have thought much about Christianity.